R7.4 million lotto jackpot expires on Saturday, who’s gonna claim it?

Check your lotto tickets because you might be unaware that you’re the millionaire who won the R7,471,539.30 jackpot that has been unclaimed since last year.

The National Lottery said the PowerBall Plus winnings are yet to be claimed – and that the ticket expires on Saturday, 9 July 2022.

The jackpot was won on 9 July 2021. The ticket was bought at a Spar in Beaufort, Eastern Cape, and South Africans are being urged to claim the winnings.

Ithuba said all lotto tickets expire after a year from the date of draw. If no one comes forward to claim the prize, the winnings are lost.

“All tickets that are not validated or claimed within that period will automatically expire,” said Ithuba Holdings.

Ithuba said all unclaimed winnings from expired lotto tickets are transferred to the National Lottery Distribution trust fund for reallocation to good causes.

To avoid missing out the winnings, Ithuba recommends that players write their name and ID number at the back of the tickets so that they can easily identify the next millionaire.

How Ithuba identifies winners

• It issues a media statement notifying the public of a large amount that is waiting to be claimed.
• It advertises the unclaimed prizes in the store where the ticket was sold.
• It also advertises in the local vicinity and region, as well as nationally on social media platforms and the National Lottery draw shows.
• All unclaimed prizes are monitored monthly and all unclaimed prizes above R500,000 are advertised for a six-month period prior to the ticket expiring.

Ithuba has also noticed a trend of individuals who prefer to keep their lotto tickets for a long time and only come forward to claim when they are about to expire.

This increases the chances of losing the ticket or of the ticket expiring before the winnings are claimed, Ithuba said.

Additional information by Narissa Subramoney

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